Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office says 22 thousand Taiwan residents have nowapplied for the permits, since they were made available at the start of themonth.

The new residence permits for Taiwanese are different from China's residentidentity cards, with a TAO spokesperson saying that they serve as "identitycards" to increase the convenience for Taiwanese living, working and studyingin China and are unrelated to any adjustments to political rights andobligations.

The TAO says Taiwanese applicants are not required to either register onChina's household registration system or to have their Taiwanese householdregistrations automatically revoked

The spokesperson adds that the new system is not designed to replace Chinesetravel permits for Taiwan residents and the rights granted to the travelpermit holders will not be compromised by the issuance of the new residencepermits.